Choosing a business name - flyers, business cards etc

andygb

I want to start my own business, and have been planning it seriously for a couple of months now.
In order to get business cards and flyers printed I need to think up a business name.
However, a Google search has revealed several people in the UK running the same sort of business, with exactly the same name as myself:(
So, I now have to think of a "unique" name. I have also "Googled where I live, and nobody has used our town name for the kind of business which I want to start, so can I just go ahead and use that, and how do I register the name?

Cheers.

theGrinch

a formation agent or your accountant can do it for you. we do it for many clients.

paddyrg

Sole trader or limited company?

andygb

paddyrg wrote: »

Sole trader or limited company?

Good question Paddy. I do not plan employing anyone else, except maybe the missus who could do admin work and other duties.
I know a mate in the building trade who set up a limited company with a flexible number of staff and subbies, but I would not be in the same business.

Southend1

It's rarely a good idea to name a business after yourself. Pick one that tells potential customers what you do and why they should choose to use you.

paddyrg

So if you're not forming a limited company, your business is you, possibly trading as something else (for instance paddyrg t/a incredible advice'. If you give us some ideas what sector you're in, maybe we can kick around a couple of ideas

andygb

paddyrg wrote: »

So if you're not forming a limited company, your business is you, possibly trading as something else (for instance paddyrg t/a incredible advice'. If you give us some ideas what sector you're in, maybe we can kick around a couple of ideas

Without giving too much away, it is a "creative service", where I could work from home or visit client's premises (business or residential).

antrobus

Southend1 wrote: »

It's rarely a good idea to name a business after yourself. Pick one that tells potential customers what you do and why they should choose to use you.

Are you sure?

Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer .....it would be a long list.:)

The trouble with picking one that "tells potential customers what you do", is that there are likely only a limited number of words available that fulfill that function, and someone has very likely already come along and used that word in conjuction with the word 'easy', 'superb', 'excellent' or whatever. As the OP has already found.

antrobus

andygb wrote: »

...So, I now have to think of a "unique" name. I have also "Googled where I live, and nobody has used our town name for the kind of business which I want to start, so can I just go ahead and use that, and how do I register the name?.....

You don't have to have an 'unique name' as such. 'Andygb, Creative Consultant' will do.

There is no register of business names. If you want to go ahead and launch a business under the name 'Colchester Creative Consultancy' or whatever, you can do just that. So long as you keep within the rules - https://www.gov.uk/choose-company-name

If you think you've thought up a really good name, and want to stop someone else from nicking it, you can form a company under that name as a first step to protecting that name. You can do that irrespective of whether or not you decide to actually trade through that company.

Rappa

Southend1 wrote: »

It's rarely a good idea to name a business after yourself. Pick one that tells potential customers what you do and why they should choose to use you.

Absolutely. It's rarely a good idea to name a business after yourself.

e.g.
Adidas (Adi Dassler)
Amstrad (Alan Michael Sugar Trading)
Ann Summers (Annice Summers)
Barclay's (James Barclay)
Ben & Jerry's (Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield)
Boots (Jesse Boot)
Bosch (Robert Bosch)
Bose Corporation (Dr. Amar G. Bose)
Cadbury (John Cadbury)
Colgate (William Colgate)
Dunlop (John Boyd Dunlop)
Dyson (James Dyson)
Ericsson (Lars Magnus Ericsson)
Ferrari (Enzo Ferrari)
Ford (Henry Ford)
Gillette (King Camp Gillette)
Greggs (John Gregg)
Gucci (Guccio Gucci)
Harley-Davidson (William Harley & Arthur Davidson)
Horlicks (William & James Horlick)
JCB (Joseph Cyril Bamford)
Kellogg's (W.K. Kellogg)
Lidl (Ludwig Lidl)
McAfee (John McAfee)
McDonald’s (Richard and Maurice McDonald)
Morgan Stanley (Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley)
Olivetti (Camillo Olivetti)
Peugeot (Armand Peugeot)
Philips (Anton and Gerard Philips)
Porsche (Ferdinand Porsche)
Prada (Mario Prada)
Reuters (Paul Reuter)
Rolls-Royce (Charles Rolls and Henry Royce)
Ryanair (Tony Ryan)
Sainsbury's (John James Sainsbury)
Stobart Group (Eddie Stobart)
Suzuki (Michio Suzuki)
Swarovski (Daniel Swarovski)
Tata Group (Jamsetji Tata)
Tate & Lyle (Henry Tate & Abram Lyle)
Taylor Wimpey (Frank Taylor & George Wimpey)
Tesco (T. E. Stockwell & Jack Cohen)
Tiffany & Co (Charles Lewis Tiffany)
Toni & Guy (Giuseppe "Toni" & Gaetano "Guy" Mascolo)
Tupperware (Earl Tupper)
William Hill (William Hill)
Yamaha (Torakusu Yamaha)
Yves Saint Laurent (Yves Saint Laurent)

But do pick one that tells potential customers what you do and why they should choose to use you.

e.g. Virgin

:cool:

Rappa

antrobus wrote: »

...If you think you've thought up a really good name, and want to stop someone else from nicking it, you can form a company under that name as a first step to protecting that name. You can do that irrespective of whether or not you decide to actually trade through that company.

All that registering a limited company name does is prevent anyone else using that same (or very similar as defined by the appropriate rules) for a limited company.

e.g. If there was a registered limited company called Acme Trading Limited, I could still set up a business called Acme Trading (as long as there was no intention to 'pass-off', did not contravene any registered trade mark, etc)

In reality, only the really big companies with really deep pockets have the ability to to stop others using their name, or one similar. (unless there is a clear intention to pass-off or otherwise mislead)